MTN drags CBN, AGF to court over $10.1bn refund

MTN Nigeria has dragged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Attorney-General of the Federation to court to seek relief over a $10.1 billion demand.

In a statement on Monday, the telecommunication company said it was seeking a restraining order from a Federal High Court of Nigeria to protect its assets and shareholder rights.

”In order to protect MTN Nigeria’s assets and shareholder rights within the confines of the law, we have applied today in the Federal High Court of Nigeria for injunctive relief restraining the CBN and the AGF from taking further action in respect of their orders,” the statement read.

The telco, however, did not mention the Court at which it filed the suit, it simply said, ”MTN Nigeria seeks relief from the Nigeria High Court against the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Attorney General of the Federation.”

Last month, the CBN had ordered MTN Nigeria to refund $8.1 billion shareholders’ dividends it allegedly repatriated illegally to its coffers, while it imposed sanctions totaling N5.87 billion on four banks that aided the company in the repatriation.

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Last week, the Auditor-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, in a statement ordered the telco to refund another $2 billion tax arrears it failed to pay.

He said his office made a “high-level calculation” which showed that MTN should have paid about $2 billion in taxes.

The taxes, according to the AGF, were relating to the importation of foreign equipment, payments to foreign suppliers since 2008, import duties, VAT and withholding taxes on foreign imports/payments.

 

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